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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29033388">home is where you are</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pjiminiie/pseuds/pjiminiie'>pjiminiie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Ending, Angst, Fluff and Angst, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Mike Wheeler Loves Will Byers, Will Byers Loves Mike Wheeler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:29:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29033388</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pjiminiie/pseuds/pjiminiie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm alright if you're alright and I'm okay if you're okay."</p>
<p>------</p>
<p>!! This is an alternate ending for season 3 ep. 8 !!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Byers/Mike Wheeler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. don't leave me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newtblythe/gifts">Newtblythe</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hey ! this is just for fun, if there are any mistakes concerning the storyline it wasn't on purpose hehe</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“You can’t leave Hawkins.” Mike protested, trailing after Will. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was the day he was moving out and Mike couldn’t bear to see him leave. His best friend leaving for somewhere else was the last thing he could’ve wanted. He hated how selfish it made him feel but he was so strongly against him moving, he was practically begging him to stay. He held a heavy cardboard box in his hands, unwillingly helping them load all their stuff into a mover’s truck. They’d scheduled the move out a few minutes from now, so Mike had to act fast if he wanted to successfully convince his best friend to stay. It was impossible, Mike thought, but that didn’t stop him in the slightest.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It wasn’t my decision anyways Mike,” Will turned around, forcing Mike to stop abruptly, “plus, we need to move on, I need to move on.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mike was really getting tired of Will’s shit. Selfishness was no longer the issue: Will seemed to be actually looking forward to leaving. He’d been avoiding him for the past week, not answering his insistent calls. ‘We need to talk.’ he always said, to which Will always shot him down saying he was busy, not even bothering to give him an explanation. Mike persisted, noticing something weird with his best friend, his calls over time getting more and more frequent to the point where Will stopped answering altogether.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Stay with us, with my family, it doesn’t matter.” Mike begged, setting the box down inside the truck.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I-I can’t Mike, don’t you understand-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Please Will, we’ll take care of you-” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What about El?” he interrupted, throwing the box into the truck with unwanted force, his patience slim and threatening to break. “Don’t you love her?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t understand. How could he? Mike never quite managed to gather enough courage to tell him. It’s always tricky with best friends, Mike always held back showing him his true feelings, telling himself that he couldn’t risk losing Will as a friend, even though it was obvious he liked him more than that. He knew that was the most common excuse, but in reality Will was not the problem, it was him. All those times he bothered to glanced back to see Will looking disappointingly at him while his arm intertwined with El’s or the sad look he gave him when he showed off how he’d already had his first kiss, with her of all people. Countless memories came back to haunt him, mocking him for being too weak to admit he felt something for Will.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mike suffered in silence for Will’s sake, actually, everything he did was for his sake. He hated how his first thought in the morning was always reminding him to call and check if he was okay, he hated how he constantly pretended it was him when making out with El and he absolutely hated how his mind always inevitably circled back to thinking about him when he touched himself, nothing else quite satisfying him. He couldn’t keep running away from his feelings and keep pretending they don’t exist, it was exhausting to say the least. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘You’re doing this for your friendship with Will.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he always reminded himself, but now after seeing him face to face, it tore him apart to think he just made things worse by pretending to be someone he was not; by pretending to like someone he didn’t actually like.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mike looked down, his eyes finding the ground below them easier to look at. He couldn’t meet Will’s eyes, scared of seeing how much his past actions had an enduring effect on him. He hated himself for it, hated how much of the little time they had left together was spent fighting over something stupid. He felt so fucking stupid.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Remember when you told me ‘It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!’?” Will said, visibly struggling to keep his voice steady, </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, that. I really didn’t mean it like that.” he said, regretting his words. “Sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Will sighed. “Look I’m just saying, well, maybe I don’t, okay? Maybe this is a good thing for me, maybe it can help with finally getting over this stupid crush-.” He trailed off, Mike finally looking up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Silence. This turned to something worse than fighting; his words caught in his throat. He needed to be there for his best friend, to assure him that everything was going to be okay, but he couldn’t. Mentally kicking himself a few times at the tone in his voice when he answered. The problem only got worse as every wrong step he took made him fall awkwardly, his intentions uncertain to Will. He spent so much time looking to distract himself from admitting his feelings and denying them altogether that he completely forgot to consider that maybe, just maybe, Will liked him back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“‘No’ what?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Will, I-” Mike paused, choosing to completely ignore what he’d just said out of fear. “We could be your family. You can’t just leave, what about us?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What about us?” he repeated back to him, his voice calm but conveying a clear feeling of hurt. “There never was an ‘us’, it was always you and El and-” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We broke up.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.” he said, annoyance clear in his voice. He let the box he was carrying fall to the ground with a loud thud. He fucked up again, that was obvious, but what did he expect him to say?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you even know why we broke up?” he said, in a last attempt to clear things up. For a minute he didn’t care about him leaving, it obviously didn’t matter if he decided to stay or not, it’s not like he could change his mom’s mind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Will shook his head, turning to face Mike with a curious look on his face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We broke up because I like you Will.” Mike said. “And it hurts that you’re leaving now because I was just about to set things right and we could-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Will!” Someone shouted from outside the house as both the boys turned to the source of the voice; it was Mrs. Byers. “Time to go honey.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mike searched for any sign of feeling in Will’s eyes, they always told him exactly what he was thinking, but for the first time, he saw nothing. Nothing to guide him as he fell again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well you’re too late.” Will said, his voice wavering.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Will wait.” Mike reached out to him, pulling his right shoulder back so he could look at him one last time. “I-I love you Will.” he stuttered, feeling like he fucked up yet again. Then he saw it, the sadness in his eyes quietly spoke what he couldn’t say; he didn’t want to leave either.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Mike.” He removed Mike’s hand from his shoulder and walked over to his mom. Leaving him standing in the empty house.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. i won't</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It had been just an hour since Will left and Mike had already broken down. This couldn’t be real; he was too late. Memories from before, now seemingly worse haunted him, the same three words repeating over and over again in his mind </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m sorry Mike.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He sobbed, cursing at himself for his blatant stupidity. He clearly wasn’t trying to hurt him on purpose, so why did every word that came out of his mouth felt like he’d been shooting a dagger directly into Will’s heart? Mike kept blaming himself for what he did, for all the hurt he caused, who else was there to blame? It's not like Will had done anything that even compared to what he did. He choked on his own tears as he remembered the day they became best friends. It was ‘The best thing he’s ever done’ he remembers he said to Will. His chest tightened at the mere thought of Will’s words. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m sorry Mike.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sitting on his bed, he heard laughs from the outside, a laugh from someone he knew. He stopped crying for a second to try to hear better. It was Will’s mom. He stumbled to his feet, peeking through the window in search of that familiar face. There he was, a concerned look on his face as he played with the sleeves on his sweater. Why were they here? Mike waited for a few seconds, suddenly hearing a set of footsteps approaching the door.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Is Mike home?” It was Will. Mike couldn’t move, hearing as the door opened and a pair of footsteps climbed the stairs to his house. Soon, he was at his door, opening it softly as the small figure walked into his room. They stared at each other, waiting for the other to say something. Did the room start to feel hotter?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What happened?” Mike said, his voice surprisingly calm despite the situation. He wiped at his eyes, not bothering to hide that he’d been crying.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re staying for another week.” Will stared at the floor, avoiding Mike’s worried gaze. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh,” Mike shifted in his bed, successfully hiding his excitement, “that’s cool.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They didn’t say anything more, the silence pressing on them like a shrinking room. Mike couldn’t bear it, it was exactly what he wanted: Will was still here, so why wasn’t he doing anything? He felt awkward around his best friend, a foreign feeling to him. He didn’t want to say anything more to hurt him, plus Will hadn’t even given a proper excuse as to why he rejected him. Time was the problem right? So why wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> the one saying anything? As if having read his mind, Will broke the deafening silence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I like you too.” Will blurted out. Mike stared at him, struggling to process what he’d just said. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Like </span>
  </em>
  <span>like you.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mike paced over to Will, stopping to leave just a few centimeters between them. Their breaths intermingled together and Mike noticed Will glancing at his lips. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you tell me before?” he asked, not minding his tone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Will looked down, “I’m sorry, it’s stupid I shouldn’t have said-”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey,” Mike cut him off, lifting his chin with his hand softly, “It’s okay, I was stupid too.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He pulled his chin, delicately planting a kiss on his lips. Mike felt fireworks in his stomach as he realized he’d finally done it. Kissing him for real was ten times better than all that time he’d spent imagining what it would be like when he finally got the chance to. Will giggled, covering his mouth after pulling away.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Mike laughed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You were my first kiss.” He whispered, covering his mouth again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You were mine too.” Mike said, noticing Will’s confused face. He placed a finger over his mouth, silencing him before he could say anything. “That one doesn’t count.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Mike gently positioned both his hands on Will’s waist, pulling him even closer to him. Will braced himself on his shoulders, gazing into each other’s eyes for a second. Mike got an idea. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, we’re still best friends right? Crazy together?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“H-How-  you remember that?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, of course I do.” Mike scoffed, acting offended. Will smiled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, crazy together.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>:)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>:)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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